Summary:

Antiword is a free MS Word reader for Linux and RISC OS. There are ports to FreeBSD, BeOS, OS/2, Mac OS X, Amiga, VMS, NetWare, Plan9, EPOC, Zaurus PDA, MorphOS, Tru64/OSF, Minix, Solaris and DOS. Antiword converts the binary files from Word 2, 6, 7, 97, 2000, 2002 and 2003 to plain text and to PostScript TM.

On MS Word document readers

Microsoft® Word only exists on platforms supported by Microsoft itself. On other platforms, reading Microsoft® Word files is usually difficult, sometimes expensive and often impossible.

I am busy writing a Microsoft® Word reader for Linux and RISC OS. This Microsoft® Word reader is called Antiword for reasons explained in the documentation.
Antiword is a work in progress and many features are still being developed. However, Antiword is usable on all but the most complex Word documents.

Versions for:

  • RISC OS
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  • Linux, Unix (with sources)
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  • FreeBSD
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  • BeOS
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  • OS/2
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  • Mac OS X
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  • Amiga
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  • VMS
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  • NetWare
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  • Plan9
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  • EPOC
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  • Zaurus
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  • MorphOS
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  • Tru64/OSF
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  • Minix
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  • Solaris
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  • DOS
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  • Windows
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    [Acorn RISC OS]  RISC OS version

    Among the platforms happily ignored by Microsoft, is -naturally- RISC OS, the platform that goes with the computers that were made by Acorn computers Ltd. of Cambridge in the UK. Today the platform is a much alive as ever, thanks to RISC OS Ltd.

    Currently Antiword is able to save Word documents in Text (&fff) and Draw (&aff) format.

    Click to download version 0.36 (16 Oct 2004) (size 129992 bytes) of Antiword.

    The new version of Antiword is 26/32 bit neutral. This version will also run on a RiscPC with recent modules. Click to download version 0.37 (21 Oct 2005) (size 129023 bytes) of Antiword.

    Antiword has been tested on:

    • A RiscPC, 33 MB, RO 3.6
    • A StrongArm RiscPC, 50 MB, RO 4.0

    [Linux Tux]  Programmers' version

    The programmers' version is released under GNU General Public License. Check out the pages of the Free Software Foundation for a more detailed description about this license.

    The programmers' version does not contain any binaries, but the sources can be used to compile a Linux version. The sources can also be used to compile a version for most variations of the Unix operating system as well.
    Users have reported successful compilations on FreeBSD, Solaris, IRIX, Digital Unix (OSF/1), AIX, SCO and HP-UX.

    Currently Antiword is able to convert Word documents to plain text, to PostScript, to PDF and to XML/DocBook.

    Please remember:
    the conversion to XML/DocBook is still experimental,
    the support for the Cyrillic alphabet is still experimental.

    Click to download version 0.37 (21 Oct 2005) (size 317884 bytes) of Antiword.

    Note that his version of Antiword has only been tested on:

    • A PC with SuSE GNU/Linux 9.0 (kernel 2.4.21)
    • A PC with SuSE GNU/Linux 9.2 (kernel 2.6.8)

    RPM

    RPMs of Antiword are available from:

    [FreeBSD]  FreeBSD version

    The FreeBSD version is a port of my software by Yen-Ming Lee. Click to go to the site that contains the FreeBSD port of Antiword.

    [BeOS]  BeOS version

    The BeOS version is a port of my software by Pete Goodeve. Click to go to the site that contains the BeOS version of Antiword.
    This version of Antiword can also be downloaded from the BeBits site.

    [OS/2 Warp]  OS/2 version

    The OS/2 version is a port of my software by Dave Yeo. Click to go to the site that contains the OS/2 version of Antiword.

    [Apple Mac]  Mac OS X version

    The Mac OS X version is a port of my software by Ronaldo Nascimento. Click to go to the site that contains the Mac OS X version of Antiword.
    There is also a Fink package made by Carsten Klapp available from Sourceforge. Click to go to the Fink package.

    There are three Mac OS X GUI's for Antiword:

    [Amiga]  Amiga version

    The Amiga version is a port of my software by Raffaele Pisapia. Click to go to the site that contains the Amiga version of Antiword.

    [VMS]  VMS version

    The VMS version is a port of my software by Joseph Huber. Click to go to the site that contains the VMS version of Antiword.

    [NetWare]  NetWare version

    The NetWare version is a port of my software by Günter Knauf. Click to go to the site that contains the NetWare version of Antiword.

    [plan9]  Plan9 version

    The Plan9 version is a port of my software by Steve Simon. Click to go to the site with more information about the Plan9 version of Antiword.

    [EPOC]  EPOC version

    The version for the EPOC platform for use in PDA Psion is a port of my software by Max Tomin. Click to go to the site that contains the EPOC version of Antiword.

    [Zaurus]  Zaurus version

    The version for the Sharp Zaurus PDA is a port of my software by Piotr Jachimczyk. Click to go to the site that contains the Zaurus version of Antiword.

    [MorphOS]  MorphOS version

    The MorphOS version of my software is a port by Stefan A. Haubenthal. Click to go to the site that contains the MorphOS version of Antiword.

    [Tru64/OSF]  Tru64/OSF version

    The Tru64/OSF version of my software is a port by Alain Tauch. Click to go to the site that contains the Tru64/OSF version of Antiword.

    [Minix]  Minix version

    Click to go to the site that contains the Minix3 version of Antiword.

    [Solaris]  Solaris version

    The Solaris version of my software is a port by Steven M. Christensen. Click to go to the site that contains the Solaris version of Antiword.

    [MS DOS]  DOS version

    The DOS version is a port of my software by myself. I ported it to prove that Antiword will also run on 16 bit systems.

    There are two variations of version 0.37 (21 Oct 2005) of Antiword for DOS:

    Note that this version of Antiword has only been tested on:

    [MS Windows]  Windows version

    [I Don't Do Windows] I really don't.

    But there are people who still do Windows. They have told me that it is possible to make a Windows version of Antiword by using the djgpp compiler or the cygwin environment.

    A precompiled Windows executable is available from Markus Ueberall. Click to go to the site that contains the Windows executable of Antiword.

    Comments

    If you have any -constructive- comments on my Word reader/converter or on my attempts to write one, please contact me using one of the e-mail addresses given in the documentation section of Antiword.
    This page is best viewed with your monitor switched on.

    Text and software © 1998-2008 by Adri van Os. All rights reserved.
    Last modified: Apr 15, 2008